Mark Batterson Quotations

I think faith is the small mustard seed of opportunities every day. For example, 'Am I going to love this person? Am I going to share my faith with this person? Am I going to pray that little prayer?' It really is a daily thing where you seize those little mustard seed opportunities and then see what God does.

Don't seek opportunity. Seek God and opportunity will seek you.

To me, growing into spiritual maturity is becoming less self-conscious and more God-conscious.

When we change the way that we pray, everything changes.

I've always believed in the power of prayer. One prayer can accomplish more than a thousand plans. That isn't a magic formula, but it's an idea that if you pray, keep praying and then praying some more.

Over the years I've grown more comfortable with making people uncomfortable because that is when growth can happen. You need a little conflict. You need a little tension. And that is part of my calling. A little tough love goes a long way!

New media is like a megaphone. It amplifies your ability to reach more people.

Routines are normal, natural, healthy things. Most of us take a shower and brush our teeth every day. That is a good routine. Spiritual disciplines are routines. That is a good thing. But once routines become routine you need to change your routine.

The greatest tragedy in life is that some prayers go unanswered as they go unasked.

In my experience, take the Holy Spirit out of the equation of your life and it spells boring. Add it into the equation of your life and you never know where you are going to go, what you are going to do, or who you are going to meet.

Id rather be biblically correct than politically correct.

I think you often say more by saying less. And interestingly enough, I mean, Jesus really set the standard. I mean, he could say more with fewer words than anybody. Most of the parables were less than 250 words. And, boy, did he have some one-liners just packed with truth.

I am a pastor so I eat and breathe the Church.

Prayer is not about letting God know your will; it's about completely submitting to him. You die to yourself.

What's unique about Washington is that no one's from here. Almost everybody came here to change the world, to make a difference.

I think a pastor used to be viewed as the one-stop ministry shop. The pastor served on every committee, volunteered at every event, and made all the hospital visits. I think that is changing and I think that is healthy. Both for the pastor and the congregation.

Too often the word 'prayer' induces guilt because we don't do enough of it. After all, I've never met anyone who said they pray too much! All of us fall short. And we often feel like our prayers fall flat.

Email helps me keep in touch with my family. I wouldn't know what my extended family was doing every day if we weren't emailing each other.

I'm a lifelong Vikings and Packers fan because I lived in both Minnesota and Wisconsin as a kid.

If you really believe in the message you're preaching, you want as many people as possible to listen.

Part of my driving desire as a pastor is to remove every obstacle except the cross that would keep people from coming to faith in Christ.

I'm pretty intentional about being highly invested in my kids' lives.

Jesus on Twitter would have been a pretty amazing thing.

If Jesus were living in our culture, he would probably hang out in coffeehouses.

In an urban environment, a church building is a thing of the past.

Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don't know. The other half is unlearning what we do know.

It’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to react like one!

If you want to find your voice, you need to hear the voice of God.

We pray as if God’s chief objective is our personal comfort. It’s not. God’s chief objective is His glory.

We've lost the wow of God because we've lost the woe of God. His perfect holiness helps us truly appreciate His amazing grace.

Whatever God wants to do through you, He will do in you first. You've got to be what you want to see.

Half of learning is learning. The other half of learning is unlearning.

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

It is absolutely imperative at the outset that you come to terms with this simple yet life-changing truth: God is for you. If you don't believe that, then you'll pray small timid prayers; if you do believe it, then you'll pray big audacious prayers.

The genealogy of blessing always traces back to God-ordained risk.

The only God-ordained fear is the fear of God, and if we fear Him, we don't have to fear anyone or anything else

If you keep circling the promise, God will ultimately deliver on it.

The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life.

And when you pray to God regularly, irregular things happen on a regular basis.

Leaders need the courage to acknowledge when something isn't working.

Life a life of Spiritual Adventure. Much like a wild goose the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it's like to pursue the Spirit's leading through life.

Verse by verse, the Bible becomes more than theory. It becomes my firsthand experience.

The Bible is the place where God bears His soul.

I love to read. I remember hearing that the average author takes two years to write a book. So when I read a book, I feel like I am getting two years of life experiences.

Lion chasers are humble enough to let God call the shots and brave enough to follow where He leads.

We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough to be transformed.

If you are not open to the unprecedented, you will repeat history. If you are open to the unprecedented, you will change history. The difference is prayer.

Don’t just read the Bible. Start circling the promises. Don’t just make a wish. Write down a list of God-glorifying life goals. Don’t just pray. Keep a prayer journal. Define your dream. Claim your promise. Spell your miracle.

Learning isn't a luxury; it's a stewardship issue

If you don't take the risk, you forfeit the miracle.

We give up too easily. We give up too soon. We quit praying right before the miracle happens.

Uniqueness isn't a virtue. It's a responsibility.

The goal is glorifying God by drawing circles around the promises, miracles, and dreams He wants for you.

If we repent, God always recycles our mistakes.

Don't wait to worship God until you get to the Promised Land; you've got to worship along the way.

The gospel costs nothing but it demands everything.

I want to be famous in my home.

The antidote for fear of failure is not success but small doses of failure.

The healthiest and holiest people are the people who laugh at themselves the most. Failure helps us take God more seriously and ourselves less seriously.

Finally, I learned that we shouldn’t seek answers as much as we should seek God.

Do you trust that God is for you even when He doesn’t give you what you asked for?

I think twenty-somethings are very cause-oriented.

If you want to see God move make a move.

CONVICTIONS are lessons learned from experiences we’d never want to go through again, but wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

Imagination is the road less taken, but it is the pathway of prayer.

GOALS are dreams with deadlines, and without those deadlines, our dreams are dead in the water.

Nolan Bushnell, the creator of the Atari video game system, once stated, ‘Everyone who’s ever taken a shower has had an idea, It’s the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it who makes a difference.

It's hard for me to imagine why a church that has younger members wouldn't have a blog component.

When we cling too tightly to what God did last, we often miss what God wants to do next.

You cannot be in the presence of God and be bored at the same time. For that matter, you cannot be in the will of God and be bored at the same time.

Whether we write lyrics or craft legislation, sell homes or teach classes, design spaces or open franchises, prayer is a critical part of the creative process. Don’t just brainstorm; praystorm.

Prayer adds an element of surprise to your life that is more fun than a surprise party or surprise gift or surprise romance. In fact, prayer turns life into a party, into a gift, into a romance.

If we do the ordinary, God will add an extra to it.

Instead of dissecting Scripture, we need to let Scripture dissect us our thoughts and attitudes, our dreams and desires, our fears and hopes.

God, find us on our knees because we know that when we get our knees, You extend Your powerful right hand.

To the infinite, all finites are equal.

Well-developed faith results in well-defined prayers, and well-defined prayers result in a well-lived life.

Drawing prayer circles isn’t about proving yourself to God; it’s about giving God an opportunity to prove Himself to you. Just in case you have forgotten — and to ensure that you always remember — God is for you. I can’t promise that God will always give you the answer you want. I can’t promise that He’ll answer on your timeline. But I can promise this: He answers every prayer, and He keeps every promise. That is who He is. That is what He does.

Don’t accumulate possessions; accumulate experiences!

When did we start believing God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things?

Faith is not logical. But it isn't illogical either. Faith is theological. It does not ignore reality; it just adds God into the equation.

If we do the little things like they are big things, then God will do the big things like they are little things.

Jesus didn't die to make us safe. He died to make us dangerous.

God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place at the right time. A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ. God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go. But here’s the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.

As I look back on my own life, I recognize this simple truth: The greatest opportunities were the scariest lions. Part of me has wanted to play it safe, but I’ve learned that taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.

You are only one defining decision away from a totally different life!

The greatest tragedy in life is the prayers that go unanswered simply because they go unasked.

The only way you can fail is if you stop praying

You can have faith or you can have control, but you cannot have both.

Because you know He can, you can pray with holy confidence.

If you are BIG ENOUGH for your dream, your dream isn't BIG ENOUGH for God.

If you plant yourself in one place and let your roots grow deep, there is no limit to what God can do.

God is in the résumé-building business. He is always using past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities.

Most Christians are educated way beyond the level of their obedience already! We don’t need to know more, we need to do more.

You cannot build God’s reputation if you aren’t willing to risk yours.

One of the truest tests of spiritual maturity is seeing the miraculous in the monotonous.

The day we stop dreaming is the day we start dying.

Faith doesn't reduce uncertainty. Faith embraces uncertainty.

Jesus didn't die to make us safe. He died to make us dangerous! Faithfulness isn't holding the fort. It's storming the gates of hell with the light and love of Jesus Christ.

Faith is the willingness to look foolish.